


Assassins

by Legume_Shadow



Series: Echoes: A Peacemaker Kurogane/Rurouni Kenshin Crossover [6]
Category: Peacemaker Kurogane, Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Author Loves Writing the Meiji Revolution, Foreign Power Shenanigans, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-26
Updated: 2012-03-26
Packaged: 2017-12-28 06:30:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/988827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legume_Shadow/pseuds/Legume_Shadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Targeted!  What does an assassination attempt on the Commander and Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi have to do with an important summit between foreign powers and loyal Shogunate members?  No one knows, but its up to Tetsu, Susumu and their friends to find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First Publishing: March 2012. All copyrights apply to the appropriate parties and no profit is being made from this fanwork.

**Part 4: Assassins**

**Chapter 4.0**

_Year: Summer 1865_

 

Ancient wraiths of the land guided their footsteps, sure and true, as several black-clad shinobi raced across the rooftops of Kyoto on this moonless, warm night. The noisy sounds of the crickets and cicada drowned out the near-silent pitter-patter and as they neared their destination, they pulled out their weapons, ready to surmount the first line of defense.

As they leapt down into the dusty alleyway below, there was not a soul in sight. Two of them broke off and stayed to sides of buildings as they made their way to the main thoroughfare that would lead them to the front of the compound that their targets were located in. As the two silently but quickly snuck between houses in tight alleyways, passing by darkened windows and emerged onto the main street behind a tall willow tree, they saw the expected number of guards at the front gates to the compound. It was their job to eliminate those two guards and ensure that no alert could be sent up.

Crouching and keeping as low as possible to the ground, they darted between the shadows cast by the torches that the two guards were holding in their hands. One slid up into the shadow of the right most guard while the other slid up to the left guard. As one, both quickly wrapped a hand around the guards’ mouths while simultaneously jammed a short blade into their sides, letting the guards die a slow death. With their knives embedded into the guards, they quickly applied several pressure points that prevented the dropping of the torches and paralyzed their victims. Just as quickly as they had attacked, they faded away, taking their bloodied blades with them – not a sound had been heard from either guard.

A slightly louder than normal sound of a cricket’s call was heard by the two outside the compound and they understood it to be the ‘all-clear’ signal given by the other two. The entrance area’s guards had been successfully neutralized, which told them that there were at least six more people patrolling the inside area of the compound. Darting into the compound, the two only acknowledged the barely-seen presence of the other two with the barest of nods before quietly heading off to the western area of the compound.

Silent but viciously, the four of them dispatched and killed the rest of the guards, leaving their bodies on the ground where they had fallen. Like ghosts with swift footsteps, they approached the area where their targets were housed and split up into two pairs again, with one pair headed towards the east area of the housing area and the others approaching the north face.

The two at the northern area quietly slid open the partition and soundlessly approached the lump sleeping at the center of the room. Their targets were the commander and vice-commander, though strategically, taking out the vice-commander would be more of a boon to their employers, hence their first stop. One took the side facing other partitions, while the other had their back to the outside, each with their short blades unsheathed and ready to strike. Raising their blades high over the prone from of one of their targets who continued to sleep peacefully, unaware of how close death was at his door.

They plunged their blades down, barely making a whisper through the air, only to find their blades striking the futon and into the tatami mats before one of the two was thrown back, stumbling from a blanket flying towards his face, while the other grunted as he was viciously kicked in the stomach and flew out into the compound, crashing through the main partition.

“Intruders!” Kai shouted as he ducked low and punched the assassin who had yanked the blanket off his face as soon as it had been thrown at him. The assassin dodged the futile swipe and retaliated with his blade as Shinsengumi members who had been sleeping responded to the call poured out of the sleeping quarters, swords drawn and raised.

 

Susumu rolled away and sprung back, as the first of the two shinobi that had quietly infiltrated the supposed sleeping quarters of Shinsengumi Commander Kondou Isami on the west side of the compound, slashed down with a short blade and tried to assassinate who they had thought was sleeping here. Truth be told, the Commander was not even present – having chosen to spend the night with his mistress after carefully sneaking out of the compound. Susumu had taken to disguising himself as Kondou for the remainder of the night.

The tip-off that he had received from some of his contacts and from listening to idle conversation near the fish market had been proven correct with tonight's actions by the enemy shinobi.

He landed in a crouch as he heard Kai's voice shout the alert and heard the thunderous sound of feet pouring out from other sleeping quarters in the compound, responding to the call. The two shinobi that were nearly concealed in the darkness of this room that Kondou usually slept in had also paused in their attacks, clearly surprised at the agility that their 'target' had displayed. They were clearly more armed than he was, with his concealed short blade, but for some odd reason, they were hesitating in attacking him.

“Two against one,” he taunted, trying to goad them into making the first move. “How hard can it be?”

He thought he saw one of them nod to the other, but the fizzling sound he heard next opened up a pit of dread in his stomach as the merrily sparking fuse of a small gunpowder grenade lit up the room. It illuminated the two black-clothed shinobi in a myriad of shadows and light, making them look semi-demonic, but all Susumu could think of was: _shit_.

 

Tetsu was among those who had circled the two enemy spies illuminated by the flickering of torches that a few of the Shinsengumi carried. However, being short as he was, he was in the back, with a few of the taller Shinsengumi members standing in front of him. Hijikata was a bit ways away in the circle, but a sudden _boom_ of an explosion caused Tetsu to loose focus and turn to see dark grey smoke rolling out of a portion of the west side of the compound.

A bone-chilling _ki-ai_ ripped through the air not a second later and Tetsu immediately felt himself being pushed violently back as the two surrounded shinobi attacked. He hit the ground and managed to roll away to avoid being trampled as the Shinsengumi responded to the attacks and killed the two shinobi without any ceremony.

His roll carried him out of the group and he scrambled up and ran as fast as his legs could carry him to where the grey smoke was still rolling out. He could see other Shinsengumi members responding to the attack, though the raw battle cries of those fighting whoever was in the smokey cloud sent chills down his spine. As soon as a warm breeze blew through the courtyard, the smoke cleared a little and he saw the splash of blood being flung away as Nagakura killed the last of the spies, but not before the spy's dying flail accidentally nicked the Second Unit Captain in the arm.

He heard Nagakura hiss as he saw the captain suddenly drop to the ground on his knees and then flop face first into the dirt. “Nagakura-san!” he cried, as he skidded to the stop and saw that not only was the captain the only one on the ground, writhing uncontrollably, several others were, including Susumu and...

“Tatsu-nii!”

Feeling himself freeze for a moment before denial snapped him out of it, Tetsu abandoned all care and scrambled over the bodies towards his brother – how had he been injured and why was he among those who had been attacking the other spies? “Tatsu-nii...” he said, as he sank to the ground and slightly picked up his brother, cradling him as he felt the violent tremors run through his brother's body. “Tatsu-nii, its me! Wake up! Please open your eyes...”

The sounds of people approaching didn't reach Tetsu as he continued to cradle his brother, hoping that it was only a trick of his eyes, and that his brother was only acting this way. When someone tried to take him away, he fought back, squirming in the grip until a kind, oddly familiar, voice said, “Tetsu-kun, we need to see what is wrong. Please.”

“No...no,” he said, feeling tears fall down his face as his nose started to stuff up a bit, clutching his brother tighter as he vacantly saw torches lighting up the area, showing just how much of the extent of damage and injury was done to those lying on the ground, involuntarily shaking. Only two bodies, clothed in black were lying still, with pools of blood congealing around them.

He heard the scrape of a weapon being picked up near the black-clothed bodies, and looked up to see yet another black-clothed person knelt down on the ground, examining the weapon and raised it into the firelight. Black-clothed shinobi had caused this...had caused whatever was affecting his brother...and the blurry vision from the tears he was shedding did not affect the red haze that suddenly draped over his vision...

 

“Tetsu-kun!”

Okita's exclamation did not even fully leave his lips before the young man pounced upon the black-clothed shinobi with a vicious snarl and was suddenly knocked out cold in less than a blink of an eye. He felt slightly ashamed as he looked into the glittering dark eyes of his friend as Aya glanced at him before resuming her examination of the blade she had picked up. He had not want to force Tetsu away from his brother, who was still writhing on the ground, but he had not expected for the young man to react the way he did, and thus had not held tightly onto Tetsu.

None of those who were twitching on the ground had been severely injured, and from the firelight, he could see that they only had minor cuts, most likely made by the blades of the the enemy shinobi who had invaded their compound. They had been poisoned, they all knew that just from looking at them, but by what, that was what they were currently trying to figure out. Water, both hot and cold were currently being fetched by other members, and while everyone else was scrambling around, he stepped forward and hefted Tetsu slightly up from the ground, dragging him away so that he wasn't lying in the middle of the two dead shinobi.

As he set the young man carefully down on the ground, he glanced up to see Hijikata enter the area and crouch beside Aya. There was an expectant look on the vice-commander's face and not a moment later, Aya said, “Its diluted.” He watched as she tugged her mouth covering down and wiped a finger on the blade before taking a tentative lick of her finger to taste the compound. Not a moment later, she spat it out, but it was the look of alarm on her face that concerned him more than anything else.

“ _Demon's bane_ ,” she stated. “The cure is _sun-lantern seeds_ from Hayachinesan*, and I don't have any _, fukuchou_.”

“Neither do I.”

“There might be something I can do, but it will involve poisoning them further and it might kill them.”

“Fighting poison with poison,” Okita heard Hijikata mutter before giving a curt nod and said, “Do it.”

As much as he wanted to question the wisdom of the decision, he held his tongue. The vice-commander had been a medicine peddler before and was an expert in knowing what herbs could do, and he knew that Aya was an expert in poisons and would not suggest such a thing lightly. He would not doubt either of their decisions, not when his comrades' lives were in such danger. He could only hope that whatever the two were about to do would cure them.

 

_*Mount Hayachine is the oldest land in Japan and contains several unique flower species._

* * *

_Two nights later..._

 

The sliver of moon had already risen by the time Tetsu woke again, this time unable to fall back asleep. Despite the massive amounts of chores that Hijikata had assigned him and the exhaustion that he had felt, it seemed to melt away when he opened his eyes and looked around. Snores of his fellow Shinsengumi members told him that everyone was fast asleep. He pushed back the light covers he had thrown over his body and as silently as possible, crawled out of the room and into the fresh open air of the walkway.

His feet carried him as quietly as possible to his destination, though there was the occasional creak and squeak of the wooden floorboards, which caused him to pause once in a while. As he turned two corners and spotted his destination, he noticed that there was someone already sitting outside the open door to the room. His eyes met the hawkish gaze of Aya, who merely nodded at him to approach the healing room.

“Couldn’t sleep, kid?” she quietly asked as he sat down next to her, taking a brief look into the room where his brother, Susumu, and the others who had been poisoned were lying, slowly recovering.

He shook his head in the affirmative but for some strange reason, he was reluctant to speak. He had apologized quite profusely to her after waking up and realizing that he had blindly attacked her in the aftermath of the enemy spies' attack. Her reply was to only curtly nod before going back to her work on those who had been poisoned.

He peeked into the room and though it was childish, just seeing the sight of his brother and his evenly breathing form suddenly made him feel better. The fact that Tatsu had remained this way for the past two nights scared him, but at least he was still breathing.

“Your brother is slowly recovering, kid,” Aya said, bringing his gaze back from Tatsu’s prone form to her. In the moonlight, it was hard to see, but Tetsu thought she looked exhausted.

“I…” he began, hesitating for a moment before plunging on, “I can watch over them, Aya-nee. You should sleep. I don’t think you’ve slept for the past two nights.”

There was a small, brief look of surprise that passed over her face as she solemnly nodded to his words and said, “You have a good heart, kid.”

“I’ll come get you if there’s anything wrong, Aya-nee,” he insisted.

He heard Aya sigh as she turned her gaze back into the darkened room and then got up. “Come with me, kid,” she said, and Tetsu obeyed, getting up and following the shinobi into the room. She crouched next to the evenly-breathing form of Susumu and held out a hand. Confused, he held out one of his own and she took it, placing it on the forehead of Susumu. “Their temperatures should feel like this, kid. If they feel colder or warmer than this, come get me. Some of them might twitch or thrash while you’re watching them, but that is because their bodies are reacting to the fight between the antidote and the poison. There’s nothing you can do for them except to leave them be. However, if they start coughing, you come get me. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, taking his hand back.

“Repeat what I just said,” she ordered.

“Temperature should be normal. Colder or warmer, I come get you. If they start coughing, I come get you.”

“Good,” she said, getting up and walked back out.

Tetsu trailed after her and as Aya left, he sat at the same spot that she had vacated. Looking back at the dark room that was only dimly illuminated by the moonlight, he felt helpless. _Tatsu-nii_ …

“That was very thoughtful of you, Tetsu-kun,” the familiar voice of Okita said from the other end of the walkway a few moments later, causing Tetsu to look up to see the normally cheerful-looking captain with a kind but solemn look on his face.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he admitted as Okita sat on the walkway beside him. “I know that the vice-commander piled on all those chores so that I wouldn’t think of Tatsu-nii, but I can’t sleep.”

“I understand, Tetsu-kun,” the captain said, nodding. “If it were my elder sister in your brother’s place, I would feel the same as you. However, these people are also my friends and colleagues, so no matter, I could not sleep either.”

The minutes that passed by the two in silence, punctuated by the noise of summer insects and the breathing of the occupants in the room turned into hours. Every so often, Tetsu silently went into the room and pressed his hand on the forehead of each of the recovering person, feeling their temperature. Though the task was simple, Tetsu was worried enough that he checked most of their temperatures two or three times before he was satisfied.

Sunrise was just on the horizon when thumping steps rumbled through the walkway, startling Tetsu from his reverie that he had fallen into for the past hour. Seconds later, two people appeared around the corner; Toudou and Harada, and stopped in front of Okita and him as they stood up. “How are they?” Harada demanded.

“They’re fine,” Tetsu answered, though he was a touch nervous at their almost angry looks they carried. “They haven’t changed at all since last night.”

Harada huffed out a sigh before muttering, “Lazy bums. Nagakura needs to wake up now and stop sleeping like a princess.”

“I’m afraid that it isn’t as simple as that, Harada- _kumichou_ ,” Tetsu heard the voice of Aya say behind him as he turned around to see the shinobi approaching, looking a lot more refreshed than she did hours ago. “The _demon’s bane_ plant can cause a variety of side effects depending on how the poison and what part of the plant is utilized. There is also the varying degree of how shallow or deep the cut was made to each of them. Even with the antidote given, they will be unconscious until their own bodies deem them healthy enough to awaken.”

“Its also dependent on how much of a dosage of the antidote was given to them,” a new voice spoke up, causing the group to turn to see the Fifth Unit Captain, Takeda Kanryuusai standing behind them. “I came back as soon as I heard the news,” he explained to the captains. He made his way forward and peered into the room before saying in a dismissive tone, “You may go kunoichi. I am in charge of their well being now.”

The abrupt dismissal and the rude tone that laced the captain’s words threw Tetsu off as he stared at the captain before glancing over to see a rather indifferent look on Aya’s face. However, she did not move from her spot as the Fifth Unit Captain entered the room and began to examine the patients. Tetsu glanced towards the other three captains and noticed that both Harada and Okita had reserved looks on their faces while Toudou was the only one with an openly stony look on his.

Moments later, the captain came back out and rounded on Aya, saying, “Warm water should have been given to them to help dilute the antidote faster in their bloodstream. Cold water should have been used to wash their wounds of the poison. You should have done a better job, kunoichi.” With that statement, he left, muttering a few things to himself about herbs that were needed.

Tetsu was _stunned_ at just how rude the captain had treated Aya and could only manage to splutter. Everyone who had passed by the room for the past two days and nights knew just how hard the shinobi had worked to save the lives of those poisoned, and he could not believe the gall that the captain had to just walk in and accuse Aya of being _negligent_.

“Asshole,” he heard Toudou mutter none-too-loudly. “Two days, and he was only at the other end of Kyoto—“

“Toudou-san,” Okita warned. “Have a care in who you speak in front of and about.”

Tetsu heard the Eighth Unit Captain grumble, but was gratefully distracted when Aya took a few steps into the room as a groan was heard from one of the people recovering. Tetsu saw that it was Susumu that was making the noise and crouched down opposite of Aya as he saw his friend weakly lift a hand to his forehead. “Susumu!” he cried, happy to see the movement.

“Shut up, brat,” Susumu retorted, though his words were slurred. “Your shouting is giving me a headache.” The shinobi swore before muttering, “Where the hell did that horse that ran me over go?”

“Actually, that’s the side effect of the antidote working against the poison, Susumu,” Aya said in a matter-of-fact tone. “It’ll go away after a few hours.”

Tetsu heard a few others in the room groaning and moaning and turned slightly to see a few of the recovering people twisting and moving, one of them his brother. He hurried to his brother’s side and could not help but grin as he saw his brother’s eyes flutter a bit before slowly opening. Everything was going to be all right.

* * *

_A few days later..._

 

“Ichimura, you will be accompanying me to Himeji.”

Susumu winced at the loud shout of Tetsu's surprised exclamation, “What?!” He saw Hijikata put a hand to his face in exasperation over the surprised shout. Though he himself was surprised at the news, he kept his feelings to himself as he sat in seiza in Hijikata's room, having arrived at the meeting only a few minutes before Tetsu had shown up with some tea for Hijikata. He also discreetly glanced over to see that Aya had also merely closed her eyes at Tetsu's exclamation – the only outward sign she gave to her exasperation that likely mirrored Hijikata's.

“Pack your things and get the horses ready, Ichimura. We will be leaving at the hour of the goat,” Hijikata said.

“Will do, _fukuchou_!” the young page enthusiastically replied as he scrambled up and left in a hurry.

When the half-thunderous footsteps of Tetsu faded into the distance, Hijikata let out a sigh and then returned his attention to the two of them. Susumu found himself sitting up a bit straighter than he normally did as Hijikata said, “The same goes for both you, Yamazaki, and you, Matsumoto. The nature of the Shogun's request is a delicate one and with what has happened recently, Kondou has assigned both of you to be my bodyguards. I'm going to tell both of you up front – should we be attacked, Yamazaki, you will accompany Ichimura and the information he will be carrying, back to headquarters. Under no circumstances are you to come back for me.”

“Yes, sir,” both of them said at the same time.

Hijikata continued, saying, “Yamazaki, I need you to also bring the Ichimura disguise. Matsumoto, you will also need to bring the Lady Sué disguise. I will be conducting negotiations with several potential allies that have heard of the work that we have done in Kyoto. There will also be westerners there and I have heard they like to have what they call 'parties' before settling down for negotiations. These 'parties' mainly involve a lot of socializing.”

“Understood, sir,” Aya said, giving a curt nod.

“One last thing, Yamazaki, before both of you are dismissed,” Hijikata said, taking a long drag from the thin pipe that was in his hand. “When Ichimura is finished with his tasks, have him report to me.”

“Yes, sir,” he replied as the two of them bowed to Hijikata and left.

Susumu headed the opposite way of where Aya was heading, even though he had not a lot of time to pack his things – he wanted to stop by Tetsu's room first and drop off the message. Also, it would give him a good excuse to take a look at which outfits the young page was bringing with him so that he could match his disguise outfit to it. It wouldn't do for being a shinobi if he had to switch out with Tetsu quickly if they couldn't be wearing nearly the same outfits.

Even before he got to the common sleeping room where Tetsu slept, he could hear his friend's excited voice talking quite loudly. He peered into the room to see that it was Tatsunosuke that Tetsu was talking to, and he couldn't help but shake his head slightly at just how nervous Tatsunosuke looked. It seemed that even after everything that had happened so far, the elder Ichimura was still a bit far too overprotective of the younger.

“Oy, kid,” he said, stepping in and interrupting Tetsu mid-sentence. As he took a quick look at exactly what outfits his friend was packing, he said, “The _fukuchou_ wants to talk to you _after_ you're done with preparations.”

“Okay!”

He couldn't help but smirk slightly at just how giddy Tetsu was...you'd think no one let him go out into the city for the entire year... Sighing to himself he again shook his head slightly and said, “Don't get too excited kid. The _fukuchou_ is going to be doing a lot of sitting around with old farts and talking. You'll get bored...trust me.”

“So that means you're going too?” Tetsu asked.

“Yep,” he answered. “My job's going to be different than yours, so don't screw up.”

“Oy, I'm not going to screw up!” Tetsu hotly replied, getting angry for a moment. “Don't get in my way and I won't screw up.”

“Says the page who can't even serve a proper hot midday tea,” he said, grinning slightly to show him that he didn't mean it. He had heard from Aya that Tetsu had stayed up watching over him and the others who had been poisoned, making sure that they were properly recovering. That small act of kindness touched him, for he didn't think his friend cared enough to do such a thing. “Remember... _after_ you're done with preparations.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

* * *

Tetsu nervously swallowed as he sat in seiza in front of Hijikata. There was no one else in the room and while Hijikata usually had the partition open to view the walkway and courtyard, this time, it was completely closed. To him, it could only mean one thing, and he tried to swallow the lump in his throat again.

“Ichimura,” Hijikata began after taking a long drag from the pipe in his hand before placing it down and folded his hands together, pinning him with a stern gaze.

“Y-yes, sir,” he nervously said.

“The Shogun has requested a representative of the Shinsengumi to go to Himeji and to conduct some preliminary negotiations with a few potential allies. There will be westerners there too, and I need you to be on your best behavior. You will be carrying certain important documents and will be accompanying me to the negotiations. You will not speak unless spoken to and even then, you will defer all questions with regards to the negotiations to me. Simple questions about Shinsengumi activities may be answered, but under no circumstances are you to go into any details of what we do. Don't act stupid about the questions, and if you don't think you can answer it, tell who ever is asking to speak to me. Remember, when I am not with you, you are representing not only me, but also the Shinsengumi. Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir!” he answered. He couldn't believe his ears. This was going to be his first true assignment as a page! Not as a tea bringer or an errand boy, but a true page sitting next to his master, and even answering questions as Hijikata's representative. If he wasn't already sitting, he was sure he would have collapsed to the ground in shock. “I'll be sure to do my best, sir!”

“One more thing, Ichimura,” Hijikata interrupted him.

“Yes, sir?” he asked. There was an even stricter tone in Hijikata's voice than before, and something else that he couldn't quite place that caused him to falter a bit in his enthusiasm.

“You are to follow every order I give. Should we be attacked on the way to or from Himeji, you are to ride to safety. Yamazaki will accompany you. The documents that you will be carrying are worth more than any lives on this assignment. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” he said, this time with much less enthusiasm as he had displayed earlier – the weight of the assignment and the reality of what was happening dousing a cold one onto him. The gravity of the situation just became a bit more real to him as he realized that with what had happened with the failed assassination attempt on both the commander and vice-commander, Hijikata was taking no chances. Was this what a demon did to a low-life minion?

“Good. Here are the documents. You are dismissed and I will see you shortly,” Hijikata said, pushing forward a small, rectangular, black-lacquered box.

Despite the overwhelming emotions that rolled through his mind, Tetsu took the box and held it close to him before standing up. He also managed to remember to bow to his master and left.

 

Okita slid the partition between the adjoining room to Hijikata's office open as soon as the footsteps of Tetsu faded away. “Do you really think that you will truly be ambushed or attacked on your way to or from Himeji, Hijikata-san?”

“You've heard and read the reports that our spies have given, Souji,” Hijikata answered, not turning around but moved to pick up the pipe again and inhaled the sweet narcotic to calm his nerves down a bit. He exhaled and Okita moved from the adjoining room where he had been quietly listening in to sit slightly across from Hijikata.

“What I cannot fathom is what we have done to earn the ire of the entire Fuuma shinobi clan to have them specifically target you and Kondou-san,” he said, puzzled. The reports prior to the assassination attempt had been sketchy and had pointed to assassins possibly from the Fuuma clan. Before disposing of the enemy shinobi, their bodies had been combed through and identified as shinobi from the Fuuma clan by the ten-pointed throwing stars they carried – it confirmed the reports.

Hijikata shrugged, almost in a careless manner and said, “If my suspicions are correct, then they will probably find out about this little trip to Himeji after we're gone. Our remaining spies are on alert for any activities and they will be guarding Kondou, but I need you, Nagakura, and Saitou to be extra alert on your patrols. Remember that incident that happened when we all first arrived in Kyoto?”

“How could I forget?” he muttered. The Roshigumi's first few months in Kyoto were rife with violence and fear on both their own side and the rebels' side. As a result of many of the Roshigumi's actions, they had earned the moniker, 'Wolves of Mibu'. Okita himself had no problems being associated with that particular derisive nickname, but he had seen just how it affected his friends who were more sensitive to it.

The two of them were silent for a few long minutes before Okita heard Hijikata quietly asked, “Do you think I'm making a mistake with Ichimura?”

The question brought a smile to his face as he said, “ I think you have made the right decision, Hijikata-san. I think Tetsu-kun is ready for this.”

 

~*~*~*~


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 4.1**

 

_A few days later..._

 

“My butt hurts.”

“You were also walking funny, kid,” Susumu said, as he and the others finally settled into their temporary guesthouse among the massive castle grounds.

He heard Tetsu give a _tsch_ of annoyance but surprisingly, the kid did not explode into anger as he was prone to do. He looked up from where he was unpacking the small satchel of his clothes for the duration of the meeting that was next to the satchel that contained his disguise and saw that his friend was stretching a bit before tromping over to the room where Hijikata was.

“ _Fukuchou_! Shall I get you some tea?” he heard Tetsu ask.

“No,” the vice-commander curtly stated, and in his mind's eye, he could see his friend deflate at the rejection. “I need you to get the baths heated up and ready.”

“Baths, sir?” Tetsu questioned.

“Yes, baths. Two. Now go.”

“Yes, sir,” he heard his friend reply and saw Tetsu breeze past the room they were going to be sharing and scramble out to go fetch some wood. It took him a moment, but he realized that the initial greetings between all members who would be participating in these negotiations would be present tonight. On their way into the town surrounding the castle, Susumu had seen great white-sailed ships floating off in the distance, but he had not seen any sign of westerners near the castle. Perhaps the western guests were staying elsewhere and would arrive later?

“Yamazaki.”

Despite the slight tiredness he felt after traveling on the road for so long, Susumu quickly picked himself off the floor and hurried to Hijikata. He knelt down with his head bowed slightly, awaiting orders.

“Find out the layout of tonight's welcoming party and where the subsequent meetings will be held. We know the guest list, now we need to know the traps that those with ill intent against anyone here may have potentially laid out.”

“Yes, sir.”

 

Hijikata closed his eyes for a moment, listening to the peaceful sounds of the summer insects and birds calling out in the midday sun, when the partition to his room was finally closed. Rarely did he ever get a moment of peace anymore, not since Yamanami's death. Conspiracies seemed to have sprung up ten-fold since that day, and despite everything he tried to do, it seemed he could only just hold back the tide...only just.

_What I cannot fathom is what we have done to earn the ire of the entire Fuuma shinobi clan to have them specifically target you and Kondou-san_ , Souji's question lingered in his mind as he opened his eyes again upon hearing the partition next to his room open up.

He saw Matsumoto, still dressed in her traveling clothes, kneeling at the entrance, before she said, “Sir, what personality shall 'Lady Sué' take on for tonight?”

He indicated with a nod of his head for Matsumoto to come into the room. The 'Lady Sué' disguise had been a creation of his as soon as he had seen just how good Matsumoto had been at giving Yamazaki a new disguise as another woman and not as Yamazaki's sister. He had only sent out 'Lady Sué' once before, and it had been in the cover of night to the high-classed Gion district to track down some rumors. He was sure that not one of the other Shinsengumi members, except for perhaps Kondou, had seen the 'Lady Sué' disguise that Matsumoto had adopted, which meant that it was a very safe and secure disguise to use here.

He had a hunch that could not be proved even by Saitou yet that Itou had been the one to bring down the wrath of the Fuuma shinobi clan upon the Shisnengumi. Hence why he was sure that by now, Itou would have found out about the trip to Himeji and would have something planned – which was why he had ordered Souji, Nagakura, and Saitou to be extra careful. He knew that Kondou was fond of Itou, and the man ingratiated himself to Kondou constantly, which was also why he hoped that with Shimada and Shinomori's excellent skills of combat and rooting out information would prevent anything happening to Kondou while he was away. What Itou wanted was still something of a mystery.

“I need 'Lady Sué' to be mysteriously charming,” he said at last, making his mind up. “From the accounts that I have read, these western men are attracted to the allure of geisha, though they keep confusing the difference between a Shimabara whore and a Gion geisha. I need you to show them the difference.”

“Understood, sir,” she said nodding slightly. “And if they try to speak to me?”

“You are not a high-born lady, but you carry yourself like one. Your contract was brought out by me, and I have allowed you to speak to them as a way of introducing me to them and they to me. Find out who they really are, especially their allegiance. We need to know who we can differentiate between friend and foe here.”

“Yes, sir,” she curtly answered.

* * *

“Susumu.”

He looked up at the mention of his name to see an unrecognizable but gorgeous-looking woman dressed in a beautifully red-white-gold patterned kimono with an elaborately wrapped and arranged obi around her waist. Though there was no white-makeup covering her face her lips were as red as one would see on a geisha, and her hair was arranged in an elegant style.

“Oy, Susumu, stop staring at me like that.”

Reality hit Susumu like a hammer to stone as he recognized the tone in the voice and blinked. “Sorry,” he hastily said, looking quickly away then back, the beautiful woman in the equally dazzling kimono no longer trapping him as he recognized his friend, Aya, in the outfit. For such a plain and ordinary looking woman, Susumu was impressed at how comely she looked whenever she disguised herself. This disguise definitely took top honors – not just for the fact that even he did not recognize his friend, but also for the fact that he was quite blown away at how stunning she made herself look like. _Well, I suppose is a very good thing that Hijikata did not bring Toudou with him on this trip..._

“Well,” she said shuffling into the room with small, dainty steps. “I guess it works.”

“So, this is 'Lady Sué?” he asked, gesturing to her and what she was wearing.

“Yes,” she answered, kneeling down before him. “She is a geisha of Gion.”

“But I thought geisha wore that white powder?” he asked, gesturing to her face and neck.

“Mature geisha don't,” she said. “Only _maiko_ do. Anyways, I heard from the _fukuchou_ that you've already done some scouting. I think our _fukuchou_ is almost ready for the party.”

As the two of them stood up, Aya more slowly than she usually did, he pointed to the kimono and asked, “If the _fukuchou_ is attacked, how are you going to defend him?”

“I have my ways,” she stated, and Susumu could hear the finality in her tone. He decided to leave the matter as is. There were just some things that shinobi never told other shinobi.

* * *

Hijikata could feel his patience being twisted and turned as he continued to politely listen to the translation that the short-statured man was giving to the westerner with a curiously clean-shaven face. Most of the other westerners here had beards and mustaches. Of course, the translator himself was a westerner, but he had been surprised at the level in which the translator had grasped the Japanese language. Beside him, with a polite smile on her face, and eyes rapt with attention, was Matsumoto in her disguise. He could not help but mentally smirk at how much both the translator and the lord he translated for kept trying to keep their attention on him instead of the woman by his side. Matsumoto was doing her job well as a distraction to those around them.

The light-haired man said something in return and then the translator said, “If you would allow it, Lord Creighton would like to pay his respects to your lovely wife, Hijikata-dono.”

“Ah. Lady Sué is not my wife, Kuraiten-dono” he corrected, to which the translator started to translate to the lord. “She is merely my companion.”

“Still, it would be an honor for me to pay my respects to this lovely and beautifully exotic companion of yours, Hijikata-dono,” the translator said as the stream of foreign language coming out of the lord's lips stopped and he smiled.

Hijikata was not sure how to interpret the smile that showed some of the lord's teeth, but it was Matsumoto who came to the rescue with a coy giggle as she said in a Kyoto-accent that was thicker than she normally spoke at, saying, “You flatter me too much, Kuraiten-dono.”

“If I may show you how we greet lovely women, such as yourself, Lady Sué?” the translator said after the lord had spoken.

Curiosity blanketed Matsumoto's face as she gave a nod of assent and the lord gently took up one of her hands and bowed slightly down to kiss the back of her hand. Hijikata was not the only one to stare at the bold, almost scandalous actions of the lord in shock. Several others in the western-styled party had also gasped in surprise. Fortunately, the brief action was broken off as the lord stood upright again and said something to his translator.

“I thank you for allowing me to do that. Beautiful women are always a sign of good harmony and alliances. I shall consider your proposals during tomorrow's negotiations, Hijikata-dono.”

Hijikata could feel his patience twist and turn another notch as he sagely nodded to the lord and politely bowed and excused both him and Matsumoto. It was not his intent to start something scandalous as what the lord had just done, but the lord's words did tell him much about the man's intent.

He hoped that the night would end soon.

* * *

_The next day..._

 

Tetsu tried his damnedest not to fidget as the men around him droned on and on. Occasionally, he did glance to his sides to see that other pages attending to their masters were sitting rock-steady and he tried his hardest to emulate them. However, he couldn't help but feel impatient and wanted the meeting to end soon. He was hungry and twice now, he had heard his own stomach softly growl in the last hour.

The room that all parties were sitting in was spacious but austere, as it only consisted of the men, each of whom was sitting behind a small table with a western-styled inkwell and quill, along with several sheaf of blank paper. Lights, both by candle and torches, along with the natural light filtering through the high ceiling slots, lit up the place, making it a bit stuffier than usual. Attendants and pages were sitting near the walls of the hall, but fortunately, sitting pillows had been given to everyone, though it amused Tetsu to see that some of the westerns sitting near the far end of the hall were clearly uncomfortable at sitting down for so long. With this many people in a hall, the temperature in the room was warm enough to make many slightly uncomfortable. Tetsu half-wished that the negotiations were held during the winter.

“Ichimura,” Hijikata's sharp whisper brought him out of his musings as he saw him make a tiny gesture with a hand. It took him a moment, but he realized that Hijikata wanted the documents he carried with him. The documents and scroll were currently stored inside a plain-looking black-lacquered case that was sitting next to him. He hastily opened the case and shuffled over as elegantly as he could, carrying the opened case, and raised it up so that his master could take the documents from the case.

As soon as he felt the weight of the documents and scroll disappear, he shuffled back and closed the casing with a quiet click and resumed his attentive state, glad for the brief change in pace. Unfortunately, his keigo* was rusty and therefore, he could partially understand what Hijikata was saying along with the others in the negotiations, but there were quite a few words that he could not grasp.

“Well then,” the lord of the castle who was hosting the meeting said at last. “Let us break for midday meal and resume our talks at the hour of the goat.”

As soon as he saw Hijikata turn slightly, he shuffled forward and unlocked the casing and held it up. He saw Hijikata roll the scroll back up and carefully fold the papers before placing both objects inside the casing. He closed the lid and latched it tight as Hijikata rose, before getting up himself. He could feel a tingly rush down his legs as he wiggled his toes a bit to get some feeling back into them.

The walk back to the guest house was silent as he trailed Hijikata slightly, sensing that perhaps his master was thinking of what had just been said. He wanted to perform his best on this job, and thus he was careful and watched Hijikata closely, trying to anticipate what he needed to be done.

When the two of them finally entered the guest house, Hijikata paused and turned, and Tetsu held his breath, unable to read the expression on Hijikata's face. Was Hijikata angry at him for fidgeting too much during the morning's meeting? “Good job Ichimura,” he heard him state.

A wave of elation swept over him as the words sunk into him, but the euphoria was quickly doused with the next words coming out of his master's lips, as he said, “Give the case to Yamazaki. He will be taking over your duties for the remainder of the afternoon.”

“What?” he said, stunned. Didn't he just do a good enough job to earn that rare praise?

“Ah, Yamazaki and Matsumoto,” Hijikata said, ignoring him, as Tetsu barely heard one of the partitions to the rooms slide open. “Good timing. Yamazaki, you'll be taking over Ichimura's duties. Matsumoto, please keep an eye on Ichimura. He's free to wander wherever he wants in the castle, except for other guest houses and anywhere near the meeting.”

“Yes, sir,” Susumu said, giving a curt nod.

“Sir,” Aya spoke up, “Kuraiten-dono from last night had a servant of his stop by earlier to deliver an invitation for you and Lady Sué to join him for evening meal.”

Hijikata muttered something unintelligible before saying, “Tell him that we'll consider it, though it depends on how the afternoon goes. Ichimura, go with Matsumoto and deliver the message.”

Tetsu snapped out of his fugue at the mention of his name as he realized that Susumu had plucked the casing out of his hands without him even knowing it. His stomach rumbled again, but at least Hijikata was letting him wander around. Perhaps he could grab some good food at the castle's main kitchens...if Aya would let him.

He followed Aya back out, and stretched for a moment before jogging to catch up with her. Though he had paid attention to the westerners being introduced at the beginning of the day before the negotiations had officially started, he couldn't quite remember which westerner was this 'Kuraiten'. He also didn't have a good memory of the layout where every delegate was staying except for where Hijikata and them were staying. He was, however, quite glad that Aya knew her way around...at least he wouldn't be lost.

They made their way to the westerner's guest house and saw that there were a few people milling about who stared at the two of them in curiosity as they approached. He couldn't help but also notice that all of them were armed with what looked like a small 'pistol' he remembered his father telling him about long ago. They also wore strange swords with elaborate hilts, and he remembered his father also telling him that that type of sword was called a 'saber'.

He felt a small push by Aya on his back as she propelled him slightly forward and he realized that she was going to make him do all the talking. “Ano...” he began, looking at all the armed men sheepishly while he scratched his head.

“Ah! I apologize!” said a short-statured man with a round belly came out of the guest house immediately after Tetsu saw a few of the guards say something to each other. He could recognize a few of the foreign words, but the rest were unintelligible to him. He recognized the man from the negotiations – the man had been translating for a curiously clean-shaven and flaxen-haired man. There was a noticeable accent to the westerner's Japanese, but Tetsu found that he could understand him. “You must be Hijikata-dono's page, correct?”

“Yes, sir,” he said, scratching his head a bit as he remember to politely answer the man and bowed a bit. “My name is Ichimura Tetsunosuke, please to meet you.”

“And you must be a servant of his, the one that a colleague of mine spoke to earlier this morning, correct?” the man said to Aya.

“That I am, sir,” she replied, bowing, but did not offer her name.

“Yes, then, forgive me please. I am Stanley Whittaker,” the man offered, bowing in the same fashion. “I had heard about the offer that was extended. I trust that you come with good news?”

“Um, actually,” Tetsu began a little nervously before he felt a sharp kick from Aya on the back of his shin. “My master has taken the offer under consideration and will make his final decision after this afternoon's negotiations, sir.”

“Ah, jolly good then,” the translator said. “I shall tell my lord of the news then and we shall see each other in two hours then, back at the negotiations. Please have an enjoyable midday meal.”

With the proper bows given, both he and Aya left, though when he was sure they were far enough from the guest house, he asked, “Aya-nee, can we go to the kitchens and get some food? I'm hungry.”

Surprisingly, she shrugged and said, “I was just thinking the same thing. Susumu is not a terrible cook, but he's not great either. We'll get enough so that all of us can have something to eat.”

“All right!” he said.

Their walk to the kitchens was a bit further than he had anticipated, and by the time they arrived, Tetsu's stomach was growling quite loudly. After politely requesting permission to take some of the food that the kitchen servants had cooked, with the servants being swayed by just 'how cute and adorable' Tetsu looked and that 'oh, poor thing needs to eat more', Aya had left Tetsu at one end of the kitchen near the pickled items and some meats while she went to go get some rice.

“ _The contract is out for all of them here. The best way is to present some sample foods during the closing ceremony's dinner – that way, the poison can be hidden inside without them knowing – we just tell them how to cook it and what ingredients to put in. Disguise the poison as a part of the ingredients. We will have the antidote and can taste test it for them to make sure that it 'tastes' as it should._ ”

“ _What if they have their own taste testers?_ ”

“ _Fine, we'll add the powdered garnish on top of the food after the taste testers have finished and substitute the poison for the real garnish if they want to try that too._ ”

Tetsu felt an oddly cold pit in his stomach form as he idly listened to the two westerners speak English, though he could only make out certain words, it was enough that he found himself frowning slightly, wondering if he heard what was said was correct. He gave a sudden jump as he heard the westerners shuffle a bit in the other room adjacent to the main kitchens and looked up to see two of them walk out. They were fair-haired, dressed in curiously stripped shirts with white aprons wrapped out and wore a funny kind of hat. When one of the two noticed him staring at them, he quickly averted his eyes and picked out the pickled items he needed and took a small plate of meat with him.

Giving a hasty bow to the matronly-looking primary cook of the kitchens, he said, “Thank you very much for the food, ma'am.”

“Oh, how sweet, young one,” the cook said, giving him a wave as he left.

“Hey kid,” Aya said as soon as he bumped into her, with her carrying a small, cloth-covered plate of delicious-smelling onigiri. “You all right?”

He nodded, still thinking about what he just heard and silently followed Aya back to the guesthouse, completely missing the strange look that Aya had given him.

 

_*Keigo is the formal way of speaking Japanese and used only during formal situations._

* * *

The silence that surrounded the room was quite palatable as Susumu waited patiently for Hijikata to say something in response to what Tetsu had just told all of them. He had been initially surprised that his friend could actually understand more than a few words of the western language known as English.

“Are you sure about what you've heard, Ichimura?” Hijikata rumbled from where he was sitting, with his arms crossed over his chest and his pipe sticking out of his mouth, puffing in contemplation.

“I'm sure, _fukuchou_ ,” the young kid said with enough confidence that Susumu could detect no hint of hesitation, which was very surprising to him. He found it oddly strange yet comforting to finally see his friend take his page duties seriously instead of the usual antics he usually got into. Perhaps this was a good outing for the young kid to get involved with though with what had just been revealed, he thought that it was a little premature to actually confirm his thoughts.

“Matsumoto, did you see these two western cooks?”

“I did. Unfortunately, they were wearing what other western sailors usually wore. I could not identify what delegation they belonged to.”

“All right,” Hijikata said after a few more minutes of silence as he continued to contemplate what had been said. “We will keep this knowledge to ourselves. There is too much speculations to go upon until we can confirm what was heard. Yamazaki, we will continue with your disguise for this afternoon's assessment. Following the meeting, I will most likely accept Kuraiten-dono's offer to attend tonight's evening meal. Matsumoto, you know what to do. Tomorrow, Ichimura, you will resume your duties in the meetings and I expect that both of you, Yamazaki and Matsumoto, know what to do.”

“Yes, sir.”

 

~*~*~*~


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 4.2**

 

_A few days later..._

 

Okita heard the worried sigh escape loudly even before he turned the corner and confirmed what he had initially thought – Tatsunosuke was sitting at the accountant's desk, seemingly staring beyond the stacks of ledgers that were piled on the desk. “Are you that worried for your brother?” he kindly asked, crouching next to the desk and watched as Tatsunosuke's face transformed into one of alertness before he jerked back in surprise.

“I apologize, Okita-sensei,” Tatsunosuke said, flustered. “I didn't mean to stop working.”

“It is fine,” he said, giving him a congenial smile. “I was just wondering if you were really that worried for your brother.”

The expression that graced the accountant's face was similar to the one he held almost a year ago when Tetsu had been quite down and had not been very responsive. He still did not know exactly what had happened to the Ichimura brothers, except for the fact that during the chaos of Ikedaya, he had heard Tetsu ask Yoshida Toshimaru why he, Yoshida, had killed them. He could only assume that Tetsu had been witness to Yoshida's slaying of the elder Ichimura and his wife and that Tatsunosuke had also witnessed a portion of that horror. Out of courtesy, he never asked, but for nearly the past year, he had seen Tetsu start to grow, both literally and figuratively. It seemed that the same could not be said for Tatsunosuke.

“He's never done anything compared to this before,” Tatsunosuke quietly said. “I'm afraid he might screw up.”

“You should try to relax, Ichimura-san,” he said, trying to reassure him. “I have confidence that he will do a good job in assisting Hijikata-san.”

“Yeah, mister big brother, you need to relax!” the cheerful voice of Nagakura said, interrupting their conversation as he popped his head into the room.

“And we know just the place too!” Harada spoke up, also appearing.

“Come on big-brother Ichimura!” Toudou said as he too popped in, and dragged Tatsunosuke up from behind the desk. “You're going to Shimabara with us!”

Okita could not help but openly laugh at the goggled look that graced Tatsunosuke's face. It was almost as priceless of a look that he had when he had found out last year that Tetsu had been dragged to Shimabara without his knowledge. “Have fun!” he called out as he saw Toudou and Nagakura man-handle Tatsunosuke and drag him away.

“Oh no you don't, Okita!” Harada called out, as the spear-man gave him a smile that was not entirely benign. “You're coming with us too!”

Seeing that it was completely useless to protest, considering the state that Tatsunosuke was in, Okita didn't even bother to put up a fight and merely gestured to himself saying, “I am not dressed appropriately.”

“Well, go get changed,” Nagakura said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Sano, go with him...we don't want him sneaking out of the fun like he did the last time.”

Okita merely smiled a bit as he shook his head, taking no offense at what Nagakura had said. They were much sneakier this time, and with Harada watching him, he knew that it would be futile to try to find another excuse to not go with the Trio to have some fun. It would also be interesting and fun to see how Tatsunosuke behaved at Shimabara, considering that he was quite protective of Tetsu and Tetsu's innocence last time. He had successfully snuck out from the previous attempt of the Trio trying to get him to go to Shimabara with them, but with all things considered, especially his _condition_ that he tried not to dwell on too much, he knew that he would have to be careful around the ladies.

* * *

Aoshi lightly hopped from rooftop to rooftop, glancing occasionally down to see the people of the city enjoy the summer festivities. Tonight was not a firework night and therefore, it was safe for him to be roaming about on the rooftops. He glanced down again to see some of Shimabara's beautiful ladies out and about on the arms of various patrons, and was surprised to see Ichimura Tatsunosuke among a small group of Shinsengumi members making their way towards one of the many houses of pleasure in Shimabara. He briefly wondered how the Shinsengumi members managed to get the uptight elder Ichimura brother to actually go.

However, he didn't linger on that thought as the next jump off this particular rooftop took him out of the red-light district and back into the heart of the festivities. So far, nothing looked out of the ordinary—there! He quickly blended into the shadows of a rooftop's edge, in between the glow of the lanterns decorating the streets and the moon shining down on a patchy-clouded night sky.

His presence was already receded even before he had begun his rooftop hopping, as it was something he customarily did before going out and finding out information during the night. He carefully watched as he saw the shadows a few rooftops away move ever so slightly...had those shadows of enemy shinobi seen him? He knew that none of the Aoiya's inhabitants scouted this part of the city, since they had many other tasks given to them and knew that those Oniwabanshuu serving in the Shisengumi did regular patrols in a similar fashion as the actual Shinsengumi members, albeit theirs was more unique. Therefore, any shinobi coming in to this sector was treated as an enemy shinobi and so far, they had been correct.

Carefully slipping down into an alleyway, he blended amongst the shadows as he carefully made his way from the ground to where the slight movement of shadows was. Fortunately, most of the people were out on the main streets, except for the beggars and occasional pickpockets hanging out near the entrance to alleyways – therefore, his route to the enemy shinobi was largely uninterrupted.

“...careful timing.” he heard the whispers of someone hidden among the shadows on the roof as he neared his destination. He halted and flattened himself against the wall of a house, daring to go no further as he slowed his breathing down as much as possible.

“What was that?” another whispered in alarm.

“A cat, you idiot,” the same person who spoke first said, and Aoshi heard the slight yowl of a feral street cat run off into the distance, most likely chasing after a rat.

“Our sources say that the meeting should be done by tomorrow morning. In the evening, they will have a farewell dinner and they have that all taken care of. Should the Demon survive, then we shall strike while they're on the road. Your job is to coordinate the timing of the strike with your own at the headquarters.”

“How many of our brothers and sisters will aid me?” the second shinobi asked.

“Any who is not already on their way to the site,” the first shinobi stated.

“That's not a lot. How do you expect us to successfully assassinate their commander who is surrounded by extremely competent men?”

“That's your problem, not mine.”

Aoshi stayed in the shadows, listening until the two said nothing more and then finally departed, careful not to let the two enemy shinobi see him as he made his way through the alleyways and sparsely populated roads back to headquarters. He decided that he would leave a note for Kai, since the big man was currently traveling with Kondou to Kondou's mistress's place. There was no time – he had to go to Himeji as fast as he could and warn the delegation.

* * *

“I found this,” Susumu said as he placed a tiny packet down on the tatami mat in front of Hijikata, next to another small packet. The four of them were sitting in Hijikata's room, with Tetsu fidgeting quite a bit either in nervousness or something else, he could not tell. “It was the only object inside one of the cooks' belongings that did not match the others.”

“Now that we know what the poison does, we need to test out the antidote,” Hijikata said, placing a hand to his chin as he stared at the two innocent-looking satchels sitting side-by-side on the floor. To Tetsu, Susumu heard him say, “Fetch two cups of hot water.” With the page off to fulfill his duties, Hijikata gave a nod to Aya who quietly left to go fetch a piglet that they had brought from the kitchens. Tetsu returned first, and with a brusque order from Hijikata to go tend to the horses, he picked up the first packet and poured a little into one of the cups.

With Aya back and with a piglet in her arms, Susumu watched as Hijikata took the squirming piglet by the scruff of its neck and force the liquid down its throat. The creature gagged and moments later, began to twitch as the poison took effect. The piglet was placed on the ground and Hijikata poured a small amount of the antidote into the second cup and fed it to the piglet.

It took a while, but slowly, Susumu saw the violent spasms subside until not even the faintest of tremors remained and the breathing of the piglet returned to normal. Wordlessly, Aya picked up the piglet who squealed a bit, along with the tray containing the two cups and left the room. She was the only one who knew how to properly kill and bury the pig so that no one would accidentally ingest the poisoned pig, even if it had been cured. She was also the only one of them who knew how to properly clean the poison off the cup so that it could be reused again.

“We don't have much time, Yamazaki,” Hijikata said, picking up the antidote packet. “The equivalent to this western antidote will be very hard to match, but I have a few ideas on what we can use to try to mimic it. I need you to get the following items from the kitchens...”

* * *

_The next night..._

 

It was not a struggle for Susumu to keep the cheerful facade on his face as he greeted other delegates in the same function as Aya had during her initial outing as 'Lady Sué'. He could not say the same for Tetsu who looked decidedly uncomfortable and utterly bored in his formal outfit, standing on one side of Hijikata, while he, Susumu, was standing on the other side of the vice-commander. However, Susumu was with his own set of uncomfortableness and it mainly had to do with the amount of makeup along with the thick wig, and fashionably heavy and formal kimono that he had to wear as 'Lady Sué' that contributed to it.

“Ah,” he said in a falsetto voice, extremely glad that Aya had not opted for a higher-pitched voice for the disguise on the first night in Himeji. His voice could not go any higher than the one he was using for 'Lady Sué'. “Kuraiten-dono,” he greeted as he spotted the beardless delegate strolling towards him, Hijikata, and Tetsu.

“Lady Sué,” the delegate unexpectedly said in Japanese. “It is a pleasure to see you again.” The delegate then bent down slightly to pick up his hand and lightly kissed it before letting it go. Susumu had heard of what happened during the first night, and while he thought he had mentally prepared for it...it was still weird. However, he managed to fake a shy giggle and a graceful drawing of his hand back without completely freaking out over the strange gesture.

The delegate then said something to his translator to which the translator said, “It would be my pleasure to introduce you, Hijikata-san, and your young page, along with Lady Sué to some of the foods of the west that were brought by my fellow colleagues on their ships.”

Susumu followed the delegate's gesture towards the large table near the end of the hall that was decorated with a large amount of food – which was a decidedly western-styled type of setting. He also saw the two westerners that he had seen in the kitchens, sprinkling what looked like garnish over one of the foods before being hurriedly ushered out by another irate-looking western delegate.

A subtle glance over at Hijikata confirmed that he was to go with the delegate and confirm what was needed to be confirmed. With Hijikata feigning an excuse, he returned his attention to the delegate and as gracefully as he could be, he said, “I would love to join you.” He took the outstretched hand of the delegate as the translator translated and walked towards the table. Even though Hijikata had planned the entire thing out, Susumu could not help but feel slightly nervous. It was all dependent on timing, and it looked like that no one had touched the food just yet, but more than a few curious Japanese delegates were gravitating towards the table.

“Pardon me, but what is that?” he politely asked, pointing to the dish that he had seen the two western cooks garnishing before they had been hurried out.

“Ah, that,” the delegate said, taking the strange three-pronged object from the table, to which Susumu had found out that it was called a 'fork' and speared a small round piece of the food that looked quite dark. Emulating the delegate, Susumu picked up his own 'fork', gripping it in the same manner as him, and also speared another small flatly round food. “This is called black pudding, and I heard that it is similar to how the Chinese have made their own – by using pig's blood to create their sausage. Our black pudding was made from pork blood _and_ oatmeal...we feel that it gives it more flavor and filling. The herb that our cooks were sprinkling on top is pennyroyal, a type of mint that gives the pudding a sharp freshness whenever it is eaten.”

Susumu could barely keep the surprise from his face as he saw the delegate give a carefree smile before eating the sausage as the translator translated the man's words. No person who knew of the poison sprinkled onto the food would willingly consume it – was this particular delegate not a part of the conspiracy or was the delegate just bold and possibly over-confident? He knew that he had to follow suit or else the entire facade was over and without further ado, though in a more sensible fashion as per his disguise, he took a delicate bite of the sausage.

He forced himself to chew and swallow it, tasting the strange herb that seemed to overwhelm the taste and texture of the rest of the sausage for only a moment. It did not escape his notice that several of the other delegates near the two of them had also helped themselves to the food. He could only hope that the vice-commander had enough of the medicine to give to the delegates, though strangely enough, he did not feel any ill effects, and managed to say, “It has a very interesting taste and texture, Kuraiten-dono.”

As soon as the delegate's translator finished, he heard him give a hearty laugh, but that laugh was suddenly cut short as he saw the delegate quickly place a hand on the table to steady himself. Almost immediately after, Susumu felt a strange swooping sensation sweep through him as the world started to spin. He felt himself get strangely hotter, along with with his vision starting to blur, and the last thing he remembered before passing out was that his legs were starting to feel oddly heavy...

* * *

“Poison!”

“What treachery is this?!”

“Quick, get the doctors!”

“Ichimura, hot water, now!”

Tetsu snapped out of his shock at the order that Hijikata had barked and ran from staring at the twitching and thrashing bodies of not only Susumu in disguise, but other delegates, including the beardless westerner. He ran around the delegates and towards the kitchens, barely remembering to apologize as he pushed through. As soon as he got to the kitchens, his harried presence startled those working there as they stared at him in surprise.

“I need hot water now! The delegates have been poisoned!”

The cooks sprang into action upon his words and not only was he given a heavy pot of water and hurried back out, several of them hurried after him, carrying their own pots of water. Several other servants carried mugs, and when he returned to the hall, there seemed to be a controlled sort of chaos all around as he saw Hijikata bark a few orders at other delegates.

Quickly setting the pot down next to his master who was kneeling between both the disguised Susumu and the western delegate, he poured the hot water into two cups and saw the vice-commander pull out a packet. He saw Hijikata pour a small amount into each cup before handing him the packet and tersely said, “Take these to the others. It should help slow down the poison.”

“Y-yes, sir!” he said, adrenaline and a sense of panic over taking him as he scrambled up and hurried to the others thrashing on the ground, not wanting to see his friend die. Relaying what the vice-commander had said about the packet, he helped pour as small of an amount as he had seen Hijikata pour and hoped that it would do the trick. When the packet was emptied, he hurried back to where Susumu and the western delegate was, and crouched beside the two, willing at least his friend to get better.

What seemed like forever, with the noise and the panic of the delegates, along with the pounding feet of the guards sent out to search for the perpetrators, two doctors finally arrived and Tetsu breathed a sigh of relief as he looked up and saw them. However, it was short-lived as he saw the grim expressions carried on their faces as they crouched and checked upon each person that had ingested the poisonous food. One of the doctors went over to the table where the food was and picked up the deceptively tasty-looking sausage that was the source and sniffed it.

“I've never smelled anything like it before...” Tetsu could not help but overhear the doctor whisper to himself before setting down the food and roughly wiped his hands on the table cloth before returning to the other doctor to discuss what he had found. Moments later, the doctors called for more hot water and this time, also some herbs that Tetsu had never heard of.

“Sensei!” a voice called out and Tetsu looked up to see a harried female kitchen worker push her way through with a strange-looking satchel in her hand. “I found this satchel in the western cooks' room from the kitchens! I saw them each mix a small helping of this with water earlier and drink it before they performed the food test in front of us.”

“This could be the antidote,” one of the doctors said, taking the satchel as other kitchen workers nodded to back up the woman's words. “We need to try it.”

“Please try it on Lady Sué first,” Hijikata said, standing up. “If it is not the antidote, then we do not risk the other delegates degrading any further than they already are. Lady Sué would have wanted it that way.”

The doctors were hesitant for a few moments before curtly nodding, and Tetsu felt himself being pushed back slightly to give the doctors some room. He watched and waited as the doctors mixed a small scoop of the strange-looking herbal mixture into a clean cup of hot water before pouring it down Susumu's throat. It only took a few moments for the mixture to show its true colors – the tremors that Susumu had been suffering from had stilled and his breathing was coming in much clearer and less labored.

“It works!” he crowed.

“Let us get the others cured,” one of the doctors said to the other as the proceeded to do the same to the other delegates.

 

~*~*~*~


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4.3**

 

_Two days later..._

 

Foam was already gathered on the sides of the horse's mouth as Aoshi pushed the beast faster. He could feel it faltering, but there was no time for him to stop and let the creature rest. He had not seen the delegation on the road yet, but he had also not yet seen any sign of an ambush on the main road to the port city. It was not just the main road he had been keeping an eye out for, but also the wooded areas that surrounded the road...the perfect places for an ambush, especially with the tall trees and full green foliage—there!

As he sped past a particular crest in the road that led to a steep downhill run, he saw some slight movements in the trees above. Though he galloped past the people in the trees, he knew that his disguise, a nondescript one that looked like a page or a messenger rushing about on an errand, would hold and that he would not get shot. All the enemy shinobi would see was an errand boy hurrying down the main road with a message. He was lucky that there was a sharp bend in the road as soon as the downhill leveled out.

As soon as he disappeared into the bend, he slowed his horse down, careful not to pull to an abrupt stop and cause the horse to whinny. He jumped off the horse and left the beast in the woods on the bottom of the hill. He quietly, but swiftly climbed back up the hill, hiding himself within the foliage and slowed down to a crawl as he spotted the first of the many brown-and-green clothed enemy shinobi crouched on a branch in the woods.

If the shinobi were still here, then the delegation was not yet here. He swiftly counted the number of shinobi on this side of the road – there were ten – and he was willing to bet that there were more than just these ten. Quietly unsheathing his kodachi from the scabbard, he held them ready and a moment later, launched himself towards the shinobi ambushers. Using a combination of his techniques, Ryuusui no Ugoki and Jissen Kenbu, three of the ten were killed before the others reacted to his presence.

He sped out of the woods – he needed open space where he would not have to worry about any ambushes from tree tops, and the remaining seven followed. Unfortunately, his bid to take the fight out into the road ended up with more trouble than he bargained for, for when he emerged onto the dusty road, there were ten more shinobi on the other side of the road, waiting for him. He stopped in the middle as the enemy surrounded him on all sides, with his arms hanging loosely at his side, but the grip on his kodachi still firm.

Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply and stilled his mind. There were seventeen and he was only one. He had face worse odds before.

* * *

'Lady Sué' had already left in an ornate carriage that would bear her back to Kyoto, fully recovered and feeling no ill effects from the assassination attempt on the delegates two days ago by the time Susumu and the others started back to Kyoto on horseback. Indeed, with the grace of the lord of Himeji who had allowed all those who had suffered in the attack to stay a few more days to recover, Susumu felt a lot stronger than he did when he had woken up a few hours after the attempt.

Hijikata had the foresight to request that 'Lady Sué' be brought back to the temporary guest house that they were staying in to 'protect her modesty' from being in the same recovery room as the other men. That had saved all of them the trouble of explaining the reason why 'Lady Sué' was actually a man to the doctors when she was supposed to be a woman. Fortunately, the doctors had agreed, seeing that it had been Hijikata who had initially taken the packet of herbal medicine he had carried and slowed down the poison's work on the delegates. A few had been suspicious of Hijikata, but he had firmly said that as a former medicine peddler, he always carried some extra medications on the event that he was incapacitated in battle and needed to administer medications to himself.

Susumu had also heard that the guards had recovered the bloated bodies of the western cooks who had poisoned the food from an irrigation channel. No one knew who had killed them, except for him, Hijikata, and Aya. It was on Hijikata's order that while Susumu was in the disguise of 'Lady Sué', Aya had assassinated the two cooks. She had also gone through the cooks' meager possessions and found that their orders had not originated from the delegate they worked for, but from the Fuuma clan. The only reaction that Susumu had seen the vice-commander take was to thin his lips at the news.

“I can't wait to get back to Kyoto!” Tetsu's boisterous voice brought Susumu out of his musings. “Its too hot here!”

He could not help but snort slightly in laughter, for he thought that Tetsu would be complaining about something other than the weather. Despite what had happened, along with the touching yet incessant worry that Tetsu had displayed towards him during the past two days when he was recovering, he was surprised that the kid still had a lot of energy. There wasn't the same atmosphere of an undercurrent of melancholy that he had seen previously in Tetsu when he still had been that traumatized fifteen-year-old fresh newbie, and Susumu knew that his friend was not burying the horror of what he had seen a couple of days ago away. Tetsu was learning from it and growing with it, and it showed...at least somewhat in his maturity of the way he had handled himself.

“I definitely miss Kyoto's dumplings and festivals...its too boring here...”

Susumu heard his friend trail off into silence as the four of them crested the large hill on the road to come face to face with a flat swath of road that was covered in dead, brown-and-green clothed bodies. The blood spilt looked fresh and he was instantly alert, four throwing knives appearing in a flash between his fingers. He scanned his surroundings for any sign of the enemy, but he could see nothing and feel nothing. A quick glance over at Aya confirmed the same thing – there was absolutely no threat being detected by either of them.

A sudden whinny of a horse startled all of them as they saw a riderless horse emerge from the left side of the forest that lined both sides of the road. Moments later, there was another rustle in the bushes and Susumu felt a familiar presence before seeing Aoshi emerge from the other side of the road. The four of them relaxed a hair, but were still keenly alert, and it did not escape any of their notice that Aoshi was covered in multiple cuts and bruises, but did not look any worse for wear except for the tattered state of his clothes and bits of foliage and mud stuck on him. However, it was the two kodachi blades that were covered in a heavy coating of blood that drew his attention.

“Shinomori, report,” Hijikata curtly ordered.

“Sir,” the young shinobi said, giving a quick bow of respect towards them. “I had found out several days ago of an ambush that was being planned by the Fuuma for you. They had already deployed their people towards the site, and while I had not called for reinforcements and had intended to come straight to Himeji to warn you, I instead, encountered the clansmen here, already setting up the ambush. I took it upon myself to get rid of the threat.”

“Fifteen shinobi against yourself, Shinomori?” Hijikata questioned, gesturing slightly to the bodies that littered the ground.

“Twenty, sir,” Aoshi replied, and Susumu could hear the underlying arrogance in the tone that was borderline insubordinate. However, the next words that the young shinobi said did not contain that same arrogance as he quietly said, “Three escaped. I do not know which direction they went. I humbly apologize for my failure.”

“Noted,” Hijikata said. “However, Shinomori, you had orders to stay and protect Kondou. Explain yourself.”

“The clansmen I heard had said that they were sending the majority of their force to intercept you, sir, and so I deemed it a higher priority to warn you, for there were many competent swordsmen that would protect Kondou- _kyoukuchou_ from any assassin. Not to reduce my colleagues' abilities or yours, but you are only four against twenty highly trained shinobi,” Aoshi said. “I will accept any punishment you see fit, sir.”

“Were you aware of the fact that the Fuuma clan had bribed two western cooks to poison the entire delegation meeting at Himeji castle?” Hijikata asked.

“Sir?” the surprised tone all but confirmed to Susumu that the two incidents were perhaps related enough that each portion of the assassination attempt would be carried out only if confirmation was given that the target had not been killed.

“You will not receive any punishment for this incident, Shinomori,” Hijikata pressed on, passing over the details of what had happened during the negotiations. “Instead, you have my thanks. Let's go.”

Startled, Aoshi could only gape slightly at Hijikata before the vice-commander gave a cough and the young shinobi hastily bowed and hurried to his horse. Susumu saw Aoshi grab the reigns of his horse and swung himself onto the beast. As both Aoshi and Aya took the lead in navigating their horses through the dead bodies, Hijikata followed and Tetsu fell behind, with Susumu bringing up the rear. With his throwing knives secured again, he could not help but glance down around the dead bodies and wonder exactly what kind of trap the Fuuma clansmen would have sprung had Aoshi not heard of the plans.

* * *

_A few of days later, at the Shinsengumi Headquarters..._

 

“Tetsu!”

Susumu could not help but smile at the ridiculous, bone-crushing embrace that the elder Ichimura swept his younger brother up into as soon as the page had dismounted his horse.

“Kami-sama, I was so worried about you! I kept praying to mother and father that nothing bad would happen to you...” As Tatsunosuke kept the flow of gibberish on how worried he was for his younger brother going, Susumu nearly outright laughed as he saw his friend try to extricate himself from his brother's suffocating embrace.

“Talk about being an overprotective brother...” he heard Kai say to him as he glanced over to see the tall shinobi saunter over, with a huge grin on his face.

“Tatsu-nii...” he heard Tetsu say as he attempted to push his brother away. “Geez...I need to go take care of the horses...”

“Ah, Toshi! Welcome back!” the good-natured tone of Kondou said, interrupting most of the activity in the courtyard, except that Tatsunosuke was still clinging onto his brother and wouldn't let him go as if his life depended on it. “You to Ichimura, Matsumoto, Shinomori, and Yamazaki. I heard about the incident at the negotiations and saw the message that was left behind by Shinomori. I take it that everything is all right now?”

“Fine,” Hijikata replied. “The negotiations went as well as expected.”

“Good, good,” the commander said, clapping his hands together in a gleeful manner. “We had a minor skirmish here too, but nothing that none of our men could handle. However, with the losses that that particular shinobi clan has sustained, I believe that they will now think twice about trying to cross paths with us ever again.”

That was the sound of absolute confidence, and Susumu felt that he could finally relax for the rest of the day.

 

~*~*~*~


End file.
